This is highly irregular

A group of forty GOP candidates for the State Assembly gathered on the statehouse steps to announce "Citizens for Assembly," a statewide group of legislative candidates formed by District 27 Republican Barry Funt to "return the Legislature to regular citizens."

The group signed a ten-point platform, the "Common Sense Pledge.

"If elected, the citizen candidates on these steps would constitute a majority in the State Assembly; providing the leadership we need to change New Jersey," said Funt. "Citizens for Assembly is an effort to remind New Jersey how important it is to elect legislators who represent regular citizens."

I guess irregular citizens won't have representation if the GOP has control of the Assembly.

Liposuction and tummy tucks

Chris Christie responded to an ad by Gov. Jon Corzine warning that Christie supports a proposal allowing insurance companies to drop mammogram coverage if elected governor. In his own ad, Christie sits alongside his wife, and talks about how his mother survived breast cancer because it was detected early from a mammogram.Christie says in the ad. “It’s awful for the governor to desperately hold on to power by scaring people.”

What's really scary is that if Christie becomes Governor he might also let insurance companies drop coverage for liposuction and tummy tucks.

Christie says he is not the "decider"

When he was U.S. Attorney, Republican gubernatorial nominee Chris Christie owned stock in a company that was at the time under investigation by his own office. Asked by reporters about the investment today, Christie said that although he saw the investment in his portfolio “the way my investments worked, I had no authority to order the buying or the selling of any particular stocks in that fund. Those decisions were all made by my investment advisor, and I did not have the ability to tell him to buy any particular stock or sell any particular stock.”

Evidently Christie is rehearsing how he intends to pass the buck to his subordinates if he becomes Governor.

Christie to urban schools: let them teach competition

At a reception honoring the 100th anniversary of the NAACP, Chris Christie told the banquet hall of 150 black leaders and guests that he is the candidate in the race best equipped to combat crime and improve public education. "Children are not getting the education they deserve," he says. "I will guarantee you change will come to urban education. Competition will come to urban education."

He's right. Urban schools will change for the worse when they have to compete with wealthier suburban schools for whatever funds are left after Christie cuts taxes and increases rebates to his rich, conservative voter base.

Village People or KKK?

Fair Haven Mayor Michael Halfacre bashed U.S. Rep. Rush Holt for being one of 75 Congressmen to continue support of federal funding for ACORN.

Halfacre is seeking the Republican nomination to run against Holt next year.

"One again, Rush Holt has shown how out of touch he is with the people of the 12th Congressional District and that his attempts to portray himself as a moderate are just that- a portrayal", said Halfacre. "We seem to have a representative who thinks he represents San Francisco and not central New Jersey."

Better to have someone who represents San Francisco than central Mississippi.

At least Joe the Plumber stayed away

Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, the brother of former President George W. Bush, turned up at a fundraiser for Chris Christie. According to Christie spokeswoman Maria Comella the host committee reached out to Bush directly and did not check with the Christie campaign. “He was invited by one of the host committee members,” she said.

I wonder if the Christie campaign would be so anxious to distance itself if Bruce Springsteen showed up instead.

One size fits all, maybe

Chris Christie was asked at a recent appearance if he is elected in November how will he deal with a Democratic Legislature. He prefaced his answer by stating, "There's not a one size fits all to getting legislation passed or to getting people to cooperate with you."

I doubt there is "one size fits all" of anything that would work for Christie.

At least Christie's not Judas

A poll released today by an organization called Public Policy Pollingof North Carolina reports that 8 percent of those polled in New Jersey think the president is the “anti-Christ” and that an additional 13 percent are unsure.

Judging from some of the posts I’ve seen on various blogs and websites I thought Jon Corzine was the Anti-Christ, Steve Lonegan the Messiah, and Chris Christie the busboy who ate all the leftovers after the Last Supper.

I hope she looks both ways when crossing the street

Chris Christie's running mate Kim Guadagno told a gathering of supporters at the opening of the Christie/Guadagno Newark campaign HQ that she knows the city well enough to walk in it - and enough to be familiar with its tensions. Guadagno, who teaches classes twice a week at Rutgers Newark campus said, "I know what it's like to be afraid to walk across the street."

Yeah, especially when Chris Christie is driving down the street.

Car insurance premiums in Newark just skyrocketed

Chris Christie appeared at the opening of his Newark campaign HQ and presented himself as a lunch bucket Newarker who knows the city well enough to get around. The resident of Mendham Township told his supporters, "My wife will tell you that over the last seven years I spent more time here in Newark than in Morris County."

Given Christie's driving record I don't think motorists in Newark will be happy about that.

Outlaw "Kid Christie"

Republican State Senate Minority Whip Kevin O'Toole said the Democrats' latest Christie call-out reflects the desperate political calculations of Corzine allies aware of their Democratic governor's eroding chances to win reelection. "From what I've read, Chris has always operated above the law," said O'Toole.

From what we've all been reading Christie thinks he is above the law.

"Wrong Way" Christie vs. "Zoom-Zoom" Farber

Republican State Sen. Gerald Cardinale, responding to comparisons between Chris Christie's traffic mishaps and former Attorney General Zulima Farber said, "In the incident with her boyfriend, she went to the scene with a driver paid for by the state in a state car with lights flashing, and somehow got the mayor of the town on the scene, a completely inappropriate means to stop this from happening. Come on, we're talking about the difference between 'the dog ate my homework' and robbing a bank."

That's the excuse Christie must have used. His dog ate the car registration and insurance card.

He may become Governor but he'll never be AAA's poster boy

"This was an unfortunate accident and just like a lot of us, Chris knows he can always be a better driver," said Maria Comella, a campaign spokeswoman responding to reports that Christie was in a traffic accident that injured a motorcyclist in the city in 2002.

If Karl Marx was alive would he campaign for Corzine?

Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty came to Bergen County to raise money for Republican gubernatorial nominee Chris Christie. In July, Christie rejected a hypothetical visit from Sarah Palin, saying he wanted to focus on local issues. He did not show up at former Republican Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum’s visit to Cape May County last month.

Republican State Senator Gerald Cardinale gave an honest assessment of why Pawlenty is preferable to Palin. “If Karl Marx were alive, do you think Corzine would bring him in even though Corzine agrees with many of Karl Marx’s philosophical bases?” he said.

He has a point. Sarah Palin is about as far to the right as Karl Marx is to the left.

Can he be more specific?

The Morris County Daily Record reports that Chris Christie got some tough questions during a campaign stop at a retirement village. As Christie talked about reducing the size of government and making cutbacks, some questioners pressed him for details. Christie talked about “zero-based budgeting” and said everything would be on the table. But some asked for more specifics. Then he admitted there are no easy answers, saying, “This is going to be hard, I told you that.”

It's hard to be specific when you have no specifics to give.

Christie's "Contract on New Jersey"

In a column posted on PolitickerNJ.com, former Republican State Senator and NJ Lottery ball-picker Dick LaRossa reported that three candidates and one conservative activist went to see Republican State Chairman Jay Webber about a proposed Contract with New Jersey. Webber expressed shock that the candidates hadn’t followed the “proper procedures”. Then according to multiple sources familiar with the meeting, an exasperated Webber blurted out: “This doesn’t help Chris Christie because Chris Christie isn’t out there running as the Republican candidate.”

Well, he certainly isn't running to lose weight.